Pin-forming and button-pinning machine



June 14, 1949. J. G. WEGMAN 2,473,116

PIN-FORMING AND BUTT ON-PINNING MACHINE 2 Shets-Sheec. 1

Filed Aug. 21, 1945 J ules 6'.

Mme/u Filed Aug. 21, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 14, 1949. J. G, WEGMAN2,473,116

PIN-FORMING AND BUTTON-'PINNING MACHINE I Wii: m f 4.3

m Ju s awe 4mm Patented June 141, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEPIN-FORMING AND BUTTONQ-PINNING MACHINE Application August 21, 1945,Serial No. 611,739

6 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to machines for forming pinfasteners for hollow buttons .of the type commonly attached by such pinsto a coat or other garment for display on the person of the wearer, andmore particularly to a machine of the type which both bends and formsthe pin fasteners into shape for assembly with the buttons and thenassembles the pins and buttons ready for use.

The invention further and more particularly relates, to that type of pinforming and pin and button assembling machines described. and claimed inmy similarly entitled Patent No. 1,463,565, granted July 31, 1923, andhas for its primary ob ject the improvement of the patented machine in amanner to insure against breakage and other damage to the working partsin certain instances which will be presently made plain.

In my patented machine, means were incorporated for forcibly andpositively feeding the buttons to the pin forming and pin and buttonassembling station, and in connection with such mechanism incompletelyshaped or otherwise malformed buttons could not properly be fed to theshaping and assembling mandrel, so that in such instances the buttonswere very likely to become jammed and quickly cause breakage or damageto the working parts. On the other hand it seemed impossible, even withextraordina y care, to avoid the inclusion of incompletely formedbuttons among those fed to the machine, and hence, throughout itsoperation, the patented machine was subject to the danger that buttonsmight jam and do violence not only to the feeding mechanism itself butto the adjacent parts of the forming and assembling mechanism;

It is for the foregoing reason that the present improvements aim toprovide a novel feeding arrangement for the buttons wherein any jammingof buttons or failure thereof to properly feed into the forming andassembling mechanism will merely render the feeding mechanismineffective for the time being until removal of the offending buttonfrom the feed line.

In carrying out the invention, I preferably provide a feeding meansincluding an arrangement wherein the button propelling movements of thefeeding parts are spring-actuated and adapted to remain inactive underspring tension, whenever the occasion arises, without interfering anyway with the power-actuated connections for causing the opposite orretractile movements of such parts, or the power actuation of any otherparts deriving their movements in whole or in part from the same powersource.

I also preferably include in the feeding mechanism a gauge, by virtue ofwhich incompletely shaped or otherwise malformed buttons will beinterrupted and withheld from final .feeding movement to the pin formingand assembling station in a manner which will permit of their readydischarge for the normal progress of the next succeeding buttoncompletely through the feeding mechanism, such means aifor'ding aneffective and unfailing check against the final feed to the pin formingand assembling station of any buttons which are not fully in propercondition for the effective assembly of a pin therewith.

With the above general statements in regard to the invention, itsdetails of construction, arrangement and operation may be readilyunderstood from the following description and in connection with theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification and inwhich,

Figure 1 is a side view of the general machine equipped with my improvedfeeding mechanism.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof, the button hopper and feed chutebeing removed.

Figure 3 is a detailed sectional top plan View of the feeding mechanismand the adjacent pin forming and assembling mechanism, on an enlargedscale.

Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional View through the sameparts, taken substantially on the line 4 4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a detail longitudinal sectional view taken centrally throughthe feeding mechanism alone, showing the parts in position to engage abutton at the discharge end of the feed chute for movement of saidbutton to the first of its successive positions through the feedingoperation. I

Figure 6 is a similar view with the parts corresponding to the secondposition of the button.

Figure '7 is another similar View with the parts corresponding to thethird position of the button.

Figure 8 is still another similar view with the parts corresponding tothe fourth position of the button.

Figure 9 is still another similar view with the parts corresponding tothe fifth or final position of the button immediately preceding itsfinal movement to the forming and assembling station,

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, it will benoted that, as in my patent of the same title above mentioned, themachine includes a hopper H], from the downwardly opening and verticallydisposed feed throat H, of which previously prepared lengths ofresilient Wire, pointed at one end, are shifted in the direction oftheir lengths, one at a time and with the blunt end foremost through theupper diametrical slot I2 of a vertically disposed and rotating mandrell3 until the blunt ends of the pins engage a stop member i l. One of thepins is seen in its initial position through the mandrel slot at l5 inFigure 3. All of the above parts are mounted within a frame includin abed plate I 6, and from Figure 2 in particular it will be noted that thepins are successively fed to the mandrel by a pin feeding slide 11,actuated in its pin feeding movements through an intermediately pivotedlever .18 by a spring l9, lever l8 being controlled by a cam 20 engagingone end thereof and secured on a cam shaft 2| having pulleys 22 at oneend, by means of which it may be driven from any suitable source ofpower and preferably having a balance wheel 23 at its opposite end.During each such pin feeding operation, the mandrel i3 is, of course,stationary and remains so durin the immediately succeeding downwardmovement of the adjacent end of an intermediately pivoted depressorlever 24 having a depressor pin 25 which engages the pin l5 near thecenter of the mandrel slot [2 and depresses the sharpened end of thewire into one deepened end portion of the mandrel slot, so that thesharpened end of the wire is thus downwardly offset with respect to theremaining portion.

With the lowering of the depressor pin 25, lever 24 also lowers a springpresser foot 26, so that the pin wire I5 is engaged by this presser footand held during the offsetting of the sharpened end of the pin. Thedepressor lever 24 is actuated at its opposite end by a cam 27 on thecam shaft 2|.

Immediately following the above, the mandrel l3 starts its rotativemovement under actuation of pinions 28, one of which is in engagementwith a rack bar 29, the latter in turn actuated by a cam 30 on cam shaft2|. This rotation of the mandrel I3 is in the direction of the arrowshown in Figure 3 and that portion of the pin wire [5 extending beyondthe mandrel and including its blunt end is, in this rotation of themandrel, bent closely around the periphery of the mandrel by reason ofits engagement with the upstanding free end of an angular forming finger3| stationarly disposed at one side of the mandrel. During the rotationof the mandrel and prior to the passage of the blunt end of the pin wireI 5 past and free of the forming finger 3|, a button 32 is placed overthe mandrel as shown in i ure 4. This button is of a wellknown circulartype having a surrounding and inwardly curved peripheral flange, and itis so proportioned that its flange depends around the mandrel and aroundnot only the pin wire, then closely against the mandrel, but also aroundthe forming finger 3|, so that, when, in the final rotation of themandrel, the blunt end of the pin wire I5 passes beyond finger 3! andbecomes thereby released, it will spring of its own tension away fromthe surface of the mandrel against which it has been tightly pressedand. in its urge to straighten out, will firmly seat within the flangeof the button so that the assembly is thereby complete.

Immediately following the complete assembly as above described, andthrough a cam 33 on the cam shaft 2!, a valve 34 is opened in an airblast line, a portion of which is indicated at 35, and terminates in anozzle 36 disposed immediately adjacent to the forming mandrel 13, theblast from this nozzle lifting the completed assembly of pin and buttonand blowing the same free of the mandrel with the parts in the positionready for the immediate disposition of the next succeeding pin wire l5,as previously stated in connection with the mandrel.

It is with the feed of the buttons to the mandrel that the presentinvention is especially concerned, it being contemplated that thebuttons may be fed from any suitable source and by any suitable means,as, for instance, a hopper 35, through a generally U-shaped feed chute36 in which the buttons are disposed with their flanges downturned.

The buttons may slide in the chute 36 from the hopper 35 in elevatedposition. On the other hand, any suitable mechanical feed may be pro-Vided, insuring the positioning of the buttons in the feed chute withtheir open faces turned downwardly as above described.

Fixed to and extending laterally from the bed plate 16 is a frame 3! forthe feeding mechanism, including a table 38 presenting an upper flatface in continuation of the upper fiat face of the frame 31 andprojecting to a point im'- mediately adjacent to the upper end of theforming mandrel l3, as will be clearly seen by reference to Figures 3and 4. Slidable on frame 37, as best seen in Figures 5 to 9, inclusive,is a lower feed plate 39, which has an inner or forward concaved end 48for shifting a button during each forward feeding movement of the plate,from the upper surface of the table 38 onto the mandrel. This lower feedplate 39 is actuated in its inward feeding movements by springs 4|secured to the frame 31 at one end and connected at their opposite endsto a cross head 32 at the outward or rearwardly projecting end of thefeed plate, the latter being actuated during its rearward or outwardmovements to place springs 4! under tension by connections which mayinclude a stem :33 upstanding through a longitudinal slot 44 of frame 31and in connection with the feed plate. This stem 43 is actuated throughany suitable connections, which may include a rocker arm 45 and rockerbar 45, from a cam 41 on the cam shaft so that these parts when releasedby said cam will be free for movement with the slide 39 during theinward feeding movements of the latter under tension of springs 4|.

Above the inner portion of the lower slide 39 is a longitudinallyslotted spacer block 48, the forward or inner end of which overlies thetable 38 and has a circular gauge opening 69 through which the buttons32 must successively drop onto either the upper surface of the lowerslide 39 at its inner end or the upper surface of the table 38, suchbuttons as are unable to drop through the gauge opening 49 being thusprevented from further feed to the mandrel.

On the spacer block 48 is an upper feed slide 50, rigidly connected tothe lower slide 39 by a connecting member 5| which slides in thelongitudinal slot of the spacer block 48. The upper feed slide 50 has aforward or inner concave button engaging end 52 which is offsetoutwardly with respect to the concaved end 45) of the lower feed slide39. The upper slide 50 is also provided with a dog 53 pivoted inconnection therewith for vertical swinging movement to project itsforward end above the upper surface of slide 58. This dog is controlledby a spring 54.

The upper slide 50 is thus movable with the lower slide 39 and isdisposed immediately below the lower discharge end of the button chute36. Above the feed slide 50, this lower portion of the buttonenute has alengthwiseslot in itsbase and also provided transversely thereof with ayielding spring button check 55 acting to arrest the lowermost button ofthe series of buttons moving downwardly toward the feeding mechanism inthe button chute 36.

During each outward movement of the two feed slides 39 and 50-, thelatter is so positioned that its dog 53 passes beneath the forwardportion or the lowermost button 32 in the button chute and, undercontrol of spring 54-, shifts upwardly into thebut'ton so that, onthenext suceessive spring-actuated inward movement of the two slides, thebutton, so engaged by the dog 53 as shown Figure 5, is shifted beneathand forwardry of the spring check 55 to the position shown in Figure '6.Duringthe next rearward or outward cam-actuated stroke of the reedplates, the button so engaged is prevented from rear-- ward movement bythe check 55 as the upper feed plate 50 engages the next button. At theouter end of its stroke, the forward concaved end 52 of the upper slide50- passes rearwardly beyond the button shifted forwardly of the check55 in the preceding operation, so that this button is thus permitted todrop onto the spacer block '48 in the position shown in Figure 7,whereby in the succeeding forward spring-actuatedmovernent of the feedplates, the button will be shifted forwardly above the gauge opening 49and may drop through the latter onto the up,- per surface of the lowerfeed plate 39, then at the end of its inward stroke. This latterposition is indicated in Figure 8.

Upon the next rearward movement of the feed plates, the forward concavedend 40 of the lower feed plate 39 recedes outwardly beyond the buttonwithin the gauge opening 49, to the position shown in Figure 9, so thatthe button is free to drop onto the feed table 38 in front of feed plate39, whereby the latter in its next spring-actuated feeding stroke willshift the button off of the feed table 38 forwardly onto the mandrel l3,as indicated in Figure 4.

It is, of course, understood that in this continuous operation thebuttons follow one another regularly and uniformly except in the event abutton fails to drop through the gauge opening 49, in which event thefeed of buttons, of course, stops until the thus rejected button isremoved by the operator. movements of the two feed plates are thoseinward or forward movements which are spring actuated, it is obviousthat any time the feed of buttons is checked there will be nothing toimpede continuous operation of the mechanical connections of whatevernature utilized for outward movements of the feed plates for the purposeof placing their actuating springs under tension.

It is obvious from the foregoing that the precise cam-actuatedconnections for moving the button feed members 39 and 50 are importantin the present instance only in so far as they include the stem or otherelement 43, having relative movements in the slot 56 of the feed member39 for the full stroke of said element 43. Thus it is to be understoodthat these connections in so far as their cam actuation is concerned maybe varied at will, it being obvious that by various means the element 43may be given a reciprocating movement, causing the shifting of the feedmembers 39 and 5D in one direction against the tension of the springs aslong as the said members are freely movable in the opposite directionunder actuation of these springs.

Since all button propelling When for any reason, as, for instance, inthe case of a jam-up of the buttons, the feed members are checked andprevented from movement by the springs 4!, it will be noted that sinceelement 43 of the power-actuated connections is shiftable in the slot 56of the feed member 39, the power-operated connections may continue intheir movement independent of the feed members without danger to thefeeding parts until such time as the operator eliminates the cause ofthe jam-up by the removal of a misshapen button.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the type in which pin fasteners are formed andassembled with buttons, and which includes an assembling station, buttonfeeding means including a pair of reciprocating button feeding members,means forming a gauge opening to which the buttons are fed by one ofsaid members, the other of said members receiving the buttons passingthrough the gauge opening for feeding such buttons to the assemblingstation, connections between said members constraining the same touniform movement, spring means engaging one of said members for movingthe members in one direction corresponding to feeding movements of thebuttons, and power-actuated means for moving the members in the oppositedirection and for placing said spring means under tension, including anactuating element, one of said feeding members having a longitudinalslot in which said actuating element is disposed.

2. A button feeding mechanism for pin-forming and button-pinningmachines comprising a button feed chute, a reciprocating feed memberhaving means for engaging a button in said chute and for feeding thebutton in one direction, means on which said feed member is slidablehaving an extension provided with a gauge opening to which buttons arefed by said feed member, means forming a feed table below said gaugeopening to receive buttons dropping through the opening, a second feedmember rigidly connected to and movable in unison with the first feedmember for engaging and shifting buttons from the feed table, springmeans engaging the last-mentioned feed member for shifting both feedmembers in one direction corresponding to their button engaging andshifting movements, said last-mentioned feed member having a lengthwiseslot, and poweractuated connections for moving the feed members in theopposite direction to place said springs under tension including amember extending into the said slot of the second feed member.

3. A button feeding mechanism for pin-forming and button-pinningmachines including a pair of reciprocating button feeding membersconnected for uniform movement, means forming a gauge opening arrangedto permit buttons to drop therethrough by gravity, one of said membershaving means to feed buttons over the gauge opening and the other memberhaving means to shift buttons falling through the gauge opening, springmeans for moving said button feeding members in one direction in theirbutton feeding movements, and power-actuated means for moving thefeeding members in the opposite direction including an actuating elementhaving a slidable connection with one of the members,

4. A button feeding mechanism for pin-forming and button-pinningmachines including a frame having an extension forming thereon a feedtable, a reciprocating button feeding member slidable on said frame formovement at one end across said table and provided with a longitudinalslot and an extension projecting beyond the frame, a spring engagingsaid extension for moving said feed member in one direction in itsbutton feeding movement, power-actuated connections for moving the feedmember in the other direction including an element projecting into andslidable within the slot of said member, a spacing member above saidfeed member having a projection above the feed table provided with abutton gauging aperture, a second reciprocating button feeding memberslidable on said spacer and having means for engaging and feedingbuttons on the spacer to said gauge opening, said second member beingconnected to the first mentioned button feeding member for uniformmovement therewith and a button feed chute above the second feed member,said second feed memher having means for feeding buttons from the feedchute onto the spacer.

5. A button feeding mechanism for pin-forming and button-pinningmachines including a pair of slidable button engaging and feedingmembers connected for uniform movement, means forming a button gaugingopening through which buttons are transferred from one of said feedingmembers to the other, a button feeding chute leading to one of saidbutton feeding members, spring means for shifting said button feedingmembers in one direction in their button feeding movements, andpower-actuated connections for moving said button feeding members in theopposite direction, including an element having a slidable connectionwith one of said members providing for movement of said elementcorresponding to its full stroke relatively tothe button feedingmembers.

6. In a machine of the type in which pin fasteners are formed andassembled with buttons, and which includes an assembling station, buttonfeeding means including a pair of reciprocating button feeding membersconnected for uniform movement, means forming a gauge opening to whichthe buttons are fed by one of said members, the other of said membersreceiving the buttons passing through the gauge opening for feeding suchbuttons to the assembling station, spring means effective to move saidmembers in one direction corresponding to their button feeding movementsand power actuated connections effective to move said members in theopposite di rection and for placing said spring means under tension.

JULES G. WEGMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 724,538 Bonnefoi Apr. 7, 19031,463,565 Wegman July 31, 1923 1,788,762 Fearing Jan. 13, 1931 1,946,820Stoll Feb. 13, 1934 2,091,815 Hommel Aug. 31, 1937

